When I lived in Canberra, this blog was a diary of my lunchtime adventures in the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Seeing so many interesting things each lunchtime gave me the idea to practice my photography and share my experiences. In 2011 I moved to Brisbane and gained a position as a research scientist at CSIRO. This blog follows my latest adventures as I learn about the wonderful wildlife in this region.

Monday, 7 May 2012

Glider Forest

Wildlife Queensland and their Glider Network organised a morning for the public to help with nestbox monitoring in a patch of bushland called Glider Forest, in Larapinta (south Brisbane). This included hunting for some nestboxes that were put up years ago but never monitored! Gliders, like possums, are nocturnal and sleep during the day, so the nestboxes provide an important substitute for tree hollows in areas that have suffered from tree clearing.

We started out by looking for some nestboxes that had not been located with the GPS. The group leader knew roughly where they were, making the task a bit easier, and a couple of the youngsters with us had keen eyes so we found them without too much trouble. Then the fun began - we used a special camera to take a look inside the boxes! Here is a video from Wildlife Queensland that explains how the remote camera works:

Here are 'the boys' wrestling with the telescopic pole trying to get the camera in the nestbox, bit like 'hook a duck'!

A lot of the boxes contained leaves in a little nest - which meant that Gliders are using the box but just not that day. We didn't find any Gliders at first, but then we found a Brush-tail PossumTrichosurus vulpecula in one of the possum boxes! There were several Microbat boxes too, although we couldn't see in them as the opening was too small. However, it was obvious that there were no Microbats in one of them, as a Lace MonitorVaranus varius had decided to have a snooze there instead - we could just see the tail and foot sticking out!

It was getting to the end of our survey when we came across a box with some Glider inhabitats, the image on the screen wasn't too clear but the group leader thought they were Squirrel GlidersPetaurus norfolcensis (Gliders sleep socially, so there were a few in the nest!). The Wildlife Queensland web link also had some audio on the noise they make! Then, in the very last box we surveyed, we came across some Sugar GlidersPetaurus breviceps and were able to see them clearly on the screen. Technology is amazing!

3 comments:

Outstanding Hazel ... great combination of pictures and information with a light hearted touch.A great pic of the Lace Monitor ... makes me smile every time I look at it ... what an opportunist!Michael Fox

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About Me

My name is Dr Hazel Parry and I work for CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences as a Research Scientist. I specialise in spatial ecology and ecological modelling.
My research interests include: agent-based and individual-based modelling, computer simulation of crop pest population dynamics and dispersal, grid computing, geographical information systems, environmentally sensitive farming and predicting the implications of policy and environmental change for agricultural landscapes.
Publications